Those Good Old Days
by Fae 206
Summary: When twenty-six-year-old Kuon Hizuri finds out he has a terminal illness with less than ten years to live, he starts to figure out the more important parts of his life. With rapid aging being the main condition of his illness, he worries about his relationship with Kyoko, a successful actress and model and also his fiancee. However, Kyoko won't let him go just because of his age.
1. Chapter 1 - Test Results

**AU:** I wonder if you guys are sick of me writing new stories with so many unfinished ones. Well, for better or worse, next week I will be rescheduling when I write fics and hopefully will be able to start updating 90% of my Skip Beat fics again and 100% of my non-hiatus fics including The Hizuri's Black Sheep which only I seem to enjoy, lol. Anyway, thank you very much for checking out another story of mine and with such a weird plot as well. I definitely appreciate it.

 **Those Good Old Days**

 **Chapter One: Test Results**

"I'm a little nervous about this," Kyoko said as she looked through the bridal magazines that the president had given her once he had learned of her engagement to Kuon. The couple had yet to inform the public of Ren's true identity but Kuon had promised to do so before the wedding. Kyoko smiled at the twenty-six-year-old. They had been a couple for four years now and Kyoko had requested that they go slowly. Kuon had been respectful of that.

"Well, that's why the president said just to cut things out and put everything in a scrapbook and I'll help you," Kuon grinned to her as he came over and leaned opposite her with a grin. "It'll be good to look through them together."

"Maybe after your doctor appointment," Kyoko said as she reached out to take Kuon's hand. She squeezed it gently. "I'm worried about you," she admitted to him as he stared at her, "You look a little older than you used to and when you stop feeling so exhausted I think we should go on a spa day, try to revitalize your youth."

"I am older than I used to be," Kuon told her with a playful grin, "I mean, not sure if you know this, but I'm actually six full years older than the first that you saw me as an actor and I'm four years older than when I became your boyfriend."

"Okay, sweetheart," Kyoko laughed before putting the magazines that Lory had given them to the side. She smiled, 'I can't believe that I get to marry you. Now, we'll set a date after your doctor appointment." She stood up and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I love you and I'm sure it's nothing."

"Maybe a cold,' Kuon winked, "You know how rare those are for me."

"A lot less rare than you claimed," Kyoko teased him before stretching. "Well, I'll get ready for work. You'll tell me what happens after your appointment, right?" she asked and Kuon shifted. Kyoko wrapped her arms around him, "Kuon, I love you. I know you're not used to asking me for my support and I'm more than happy to give it to you because I love you. If the doctor says that there are any problems just call me. If I'm in the middle of a scene then I won't answer but I'll return the call as quickly as I can."

She held onto him lovingly. She had never expected to be this happy but then she had never really planned on finding Corn as a human either.

…..

…..

Kuon was waiting for the lab results since the doctor had told him that he wanted to make a quick test of the blood work. Apparently, the doctor had suggested that something was wrong. That didn't sound good. Well, you couldn't find many people who would argue against the fact that a doctor saying something seemed wrong wasn't such a good thing. Kuon sighed as he noticed people in the waiting room stealing glances at him.

"Tsuruga-san," the man said as Kuon changed his behavior to match Ren's again. Japan, well most of Japan, knew him as Ren now so he still had to tweak his behavior. "Please follow me to my office," he said and Ren did, picking up his bag as he stood up.

Ren sat down opposite the doctor to see some files and pamphlets in front of him.

"Have you ever heard of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome?" the doctor asked him and Ren looked back with a confused face, "Don't worry most people haven't. What your blood work is telling us though is that you have a disease that matches the condition but an adult strain of it. It hasn't been diagnosed in many people, I believe only ten in the world including you.

"Great to know that I'm rounding it up to double digits," Ren tried to joke uncomfortably. He saw the way that the doctor was looking at him though. There was such pity in his eyes and Ren looked down. "I know, having only ten people in the entire world isn't good," he admitted. "Is it terminal?" he asked as he shifted in the chair and looked down at his hands. What was he going to tell Kyoko about this?"

"In most cases, yes," the doctor replied and Ren awkwardly laughed.

"Terminal in nine other people, how much is that?" Ren asked and the doctor bit his lip as he took some deep breaths.

"Only two people in the world have actually overcome this disease and both of those people have a significantly shorter lifespan than when they were discovered to have it," the doctor said as Kuon took a nervous breath. He really didn't want to hear that. "Tsuruga-san, the illness means that your cells are rapidly aging much more than a regular person's. Doctors are still working on a way to reverse the effects but the patient typically has less than ten years to live and in half of the cases less than three."

Ren stared at him in shock, "You're giving me a life expectancy of twenty-nine years?" he asked as he tried to control the way that he felt.

The rest of the meeting was a blur where Kuon struggled to keep the facts straight. He could feel Ren slipping away as he struggled to understand what this meant. He'd definitely have to finish his contracts and not accept any new ones and he might even look in his fifties by the time the wedding took place. He shivered as he imagined the twenty-three-year-old bride standing next to this middle aged man. He couldn't do that to her. What if he appeared as a seventy-year-old during their honeymoon? No. He couldn't do that to her.

"We'll schedule an appointment for two weeks," the doctor said and Kuon nodded extremely freaked out by this.

"Sure, I've just – I've got to go," he told the doctor before going out of the door and putting the paperwork into his bag. He needed to see her. He needed for her to understand why it was important that she was happy even if it was in the arms of another man.

…..

…..

As Ren pulled up to the TBM studio where Kyoko was filming, he started to feel sharp stabbing pains all over his body. He felt that he wasn't really present as he moved through the hallways despite people saying his stage name. He knew where Kyoko was filming, he had used the same area many times as his stage but this felt different. Not knowing what was happening to him exactly made everything different.

He hadn't realized how pale he was or how he looked as if he were going to faint. He didn't realize any of this, he just needed to tell her to find her own happiness since he felt he could no longer provide that for her. He managed to see her filming whilst a few people turned to her in shock. Yashiro, who had transitioned over to being Kyoko's manager a few years ago was the first person to approach him.

"Ren," he said as Ren shook his head looking at the ground. Yashiro lowered his voice to a whisper, "Kuon?" he asked looking around to make sure that nobody heard him. "Are you okay? You really don't seem to be okay. Kyoko told me that you had a doctor appointment this morning. Do you want to talk about it?" he asked as the director told the actors to take a short break and upon spotting him, Kyoko immediately ran over to Ren with a very concerned expression on her face.

"Sweetheart?" she asked as she looked at him, "What happened?" she asked as she looked him over. He definitely didn't carry his usual composure. "Why are you – what happened?"

"I think we should break up," Kuon said as Yashiro looked at him with the same horror that Kyoko did but Kyoko's faded faster and a stubborn look came over her face.

"I refuse to be broken up with," she told him before raising her hand to his cheek, "Ren, please don't do this. I refused to be broken up with. Is it cancer? If it is then we can get through it together. I don't want to leave you alone to deal with this. Is it?"

"It's not cancer," Ren said in a shaky voice, "I don't want to be with you anymore," he told her and Kyoko looked at him and noticed the depressed look in his eyes that betrayed the words that he was saying.

"Well tough," Kyoko protested, "because I want to be with you. Is it something similar to cancer? Is it terminal, baby, if it's terminal then please let me take care of you. However long you can give me is okay but I don't want to be separated from you. I don't want to be separated from the man that I love. Please, please trust me that I love you," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I have to go home," Ren said as he pushed a hand through his brown hair, "I have to leave. I have to go home."

"I'll meet you back at home, sweetheart, but I'm not going to let you break up with me unless there really is a reason and you being ill isn't a reason that I accept. Sweetheart, please tell me what's going on with you?" Kyoko said as the tears sparkled in her own eyes.

"Not there, I have to go home," Ren repeated as Kyoko could see Kuon breaking through. She saw how scared he was but she also knew that he wasn't thinking rationally. She needed to make him see sense. She knew that he loved her, breaking up would never be his top idea unless he thought it was to help her.

"Is it terminal?" Yashiro asked and Kyoko sighed as she tried to take deep breaths into Kuon's chest.

Kuon pushed her away, guiding her into Yashiro's arms before turning and walking away robotically as Kyoko's heart started to shake. She immediately ran after him.

"I love you, we can fight this together," she told him, "I love you."

He pulled away from her, a certain look of terror on his face, before walking off with Kyoko shaking as she watched him leave. She knew something was wrong. She knew that the doctor had given him some bad news, she just wished he would tell her what it was.

…..

…..

Kyoko finished her scenes as quickly as she could before rushing back to the apartment that she and Kuon shared. She was scared of him leaving her for "her own good". Maybe she could catch him in time. Maybe she could yell at him that he was being an idiot and she didn't want him to leave even if something really bad had been told to him. She knew that she had the strength to fight through this with him but she didn't have the strength if he left her behind.

"Kuon?" she called out once she had closed the door, "Kuon? Corn?" she asked desperately before spotting a note on the counter and her heart jumped into her throat. With shaky hands she picked it up and looked at it.

 _Kyoko, I'm so sorry about this but I have to do what is right for you. I hope you are able to find a better man. One who makes you happy and is able to offer you a long and loving life together. Thank you for everything. Hopefully soon you'll forget about me but for these past years, thank you. – Kuon_

Kyoko ran her fingers through her hair as she broke down crying. This was just like her mother. Even Shotaro had left her in an empty and very expensive apartment. Kyoko wrapped an arm around her stomach. Why would he just leave her like this? She walked over to the bathroom where she could smell something that made her feel sick inside and noticed that there was a box of blond hair dye there as well as the contact lenses that turned him into Ren.

She shivered before looking around for her passport.

She had always followed his level of professionalism so why not this time as well. She would follow him because she felt she knew exactly where he was heading. She called Yashiro telling him that due to a cold she wouldn't be able to do her jobs the next two days and to apologize profusely to everyone.

She needed to go to the address that Kuu had given her because if he really was dying then he wouldn't be able to do it without telling his parents.

…

…

What was he doing? He should have at least told her what was happening and where he was going before he booked a flight. Fortunately, the flight that he was taking would take off before she could stop him from going but he still felt his heart break. Kuon looked at the ground as people stared at him and started to whisper to one another about who he was. He really shouldn't have ended things like that with the woman he loves.

He sighed as he looked at the delayed sign on the board. If the flight was any more delayed then -

"Was that note your best way of you saying goodbye?" Kyoko asked from behind him and when Kuon turned around, Kyoko slapped him. She looked him over. "You're such a jerk," she sobbed as she felt her walls shake. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him before he could stop her causing more people to gossip about whether he was actually Ren Tsuruga or whether there were just similarities between them.

"Face the facts, you're a huge asshole," Kyoko sobbed into his chest as he tried to push her away from him.

Kyoko took quiet sobs trying to calm herself down so as to avoid a scene. "I love you," she told him as she saw him stare at her guiltily. "I love you," she repeated.

"Kyoko, this illness that I have, you shouldn't be around me," he said and Kyoko took his hand and held it tightly with both of hers.

"We'll figure it out together, we'll even figure it out when we're in Los Angeles," she told him and Kuon sighed.

"There's no way that we will be sitting together on the flight," he told her and Kyoko looked away with a smile. "What are you -"

"The president was able to find your seat number in business class and the seat next to it wasn't taken," she said with a playful smile showing how she had made it so he couldn't get rid of her. "So, tell me now, tell me on the flight, or tell me in America, your choice."

Kuon looked at her before leading her away from the crowds waiting to board the flight from Narita to LAX. He took a shaky breath before looking down, "It's private and…and if you want to turn around and walk away then that might be best for you," he said as Kyoko scoffed at that. "The doctor said that my cells are…something's wrong with my body and I'm going to start aging at four to eight times the rate a normal person might. In three years, I might look twenty four years older than I am."

Kyoko looked at him shocked before her face went back to neutral, "So?" she asked him and Kuon looked at her confused. "That will just mean that you look in your sixties. I mean, it's hard to take in but do you think that I could stop loving you because of that. Even if in six years you look like a seventy year old, you're still Kuon. Underneath all of those layers, you're still Kuon."

"Kyoko, the wedding pictures -" Kuon tried to argue with her but Kyoko slapped him again.

"Do you think I care about that? As long as our wedding pictures have me and you together, that's all I care about. I wouldn't even care if you turned into a duck," she said as Kuon blinked at her. "I love you. That's all that I care about."

Kuon bowed his head, "Even if I act like a seventy year old in six years?" he asked her and Kyoko nodded stubbornly.

"Even if you have dementia," she told him. "If you can't give me six years then you're not the man I thought you were. Do you love me?"

"Ye-yes, of course I -" Kuon started but Kyoko cut him off.

"Then nothing else matters," she said before seeing him smile weakly and she squeezed his hand. "In six years, if that happens, I'll take care of you," she promised. "I will always do whatever I can to help you because that's how much I love you…" she looked away, "even if you can be a complete idiot."

 **End of Chapter One**

 **Thank you for reading**


	2. Chapter 2 - Within Those Gates

**AN:** I hope that you're enjoying this one even though it does have a strange premise. I'm excited about the end half of this chapter and I hope that you enjoy it too 😊

 **Chapter Two – Within those Gates**

The flight had been decent enough, nothing really to complain about there. However, Kyoko kept looking at her fiancée as she attempted to work out what was going on in his head. She hated to say it but he looked terrified. Fortunately, when she had phoned the president to tell him that Kuon was losing it and they needed a way to be able to not work for a few days until Kuon came back to a reasonable state of mind, he had understood and said that he would be doing his best to help him. The president had deduced the fact that Kuon's illness was terminal but of course he didn't know about the rapid aging.

Neither Kuon or Ren would be able to take on any main or supporting roles in anything big if this affected how he looked. Although filming sometimes took years for certain projects, the actor only aged a matter of years along with the shooting, Kuon's body might age eight times more rapidly making three years turn into twenty-four.

Kyoko didn't care about the way that he looked. Looks could be changed and altered and if Kuon had been in a car accident or a fire and his face had been affected then she would stay with him. However, when it came to acting then that was a huge no-no.

As they came through the arrivals gate, Kyoko saw Kuon's eyes widen and he was a little paler. She looked out into the crowd to find Ten-san standing there with her hands on her hips and a challenging look on her face. How did she get here so fast?

"You idiot," she said as she faced the two of them back on, "You should have waited for me to be able to change your hair color," she sighed before placing two fingers on her forehead. "I can work with this though. Come on," she gestured as she directed them to the exit. "I have a truck outside."

"Why are you…." Kuon said before nodding as if he was a child that Jelly was babysitting. He and Kyoko had become good friends with Jelly over the years since they were the Cain siblings and Kuon had the suspicion that it was because their romance was an entertainment for both her and the president.

"I need to fix that mess you made," Jelly said before she frowned, "Darling told me that you went to the doctor which prompted all of this, if you want to talk about what you found out then please feel free to," she said as Kuon sighed.

"I…if I tell you something can you not tell anyone else?" he asked and Jelly nodded as they got to the large vehicle where she did her transformations. Kyoko reached out for Kuon's hand. She hadn't been expecting him to tell anyone else about his illness but if he felt confident enough to tell her then she would support him.

"Yes," Jelly nodded, "You can trust me on -"

"My name is Hizuri Kuon," he told her as Jelly paused and stared at him, obviously this was not the secret that she was expecting to hear. She nodded slowly.

"Like as in Hizuri Kuu," she said as she opened the door to show there was sufficient space to work on Kuon's look inside of the vehicle.

"As in his son," Kuon said as Jelly looked at him in shock and then smiled.

"I promise not to tell anyone. That explains why Darling is so fond of you, he has been friends with Shuuhei for years," she said as Kuon shifted slightly. "I will keep your secret. Are you here to see him?" she asked and Kuon nodded.

"Him and my mother," he admitted and Jelly smiled.

"Then I'll have your appearance changed as flawlessly as possible," she said not wanting to comment on the fact that if all of this was happening then it must be really bad as an illness. This wasn't her fact to intrude upon. All she could do was support him and hope that he would be honest with Kyoko.

…

…

Kuu circulated the room during the party that he and Julie had to celebrate their anniversary. Their actual wedding anniversary wouldn't be until the following fortnight but it was always hard to gather both family and friends. Julie had been told by her friends that since she and Kuu were going on a trip to Russia for their honeymoon that they should have a party at their home beforehand.

"So, I hear that you're appearing in the new Spielberg movie," Kuu said to one of his longtime friends and fellow actors. "Congrats, it sounds like such a good movie and I'm sure that you'll get nominated for next years Academy Awards."

"I doubt that," the other man laughed, "but you know, you have to pick up every opportunity. I have you to thank for getting me into acting, you've been an inspiration to me, a mentor."

"A mentor who is only five years older than you," Kuu smiled as he pushed his blond hair back. As he was talking he was approached by one of the security guards that he had hired for that evening. Whenever someone in Hollywood had an event like this, there were often at least a couple of security officers present.

"Sir, I have to talk to you about an incident on the front yard," the man said as Kuu excused himself and walked over to where he could talk.

"What is it?" the actor sighed as he put the drink that he was holding down on the standing bar.

"Kuu," Julie said as she approached him, "What's going on? What's happening is it another paparazzo?"

"Somebody jumped the fence and is attempting to enter the residence," the security guard said, "We didn't find a weapon or a camera on them, they don't have any hidden microphones but it took about three men to hold him off. He keeps saying he know you."

Julie and Kuu shared a look with one another.

"Do you think that it's Alex?" Julie asked as she tried to think through people that she would think had come in that unexpected kind of a way. "I thought that he said that he'd be out of town."

"Are they sure that they know us?" Kuu asked and the officer nodded, "And you have them restrained?" he asked again before going to put his shoes and coat on. Julie ran over to her husband and took his arms in hers trying to keep him from leaving.

"Kuu, you can't be serious," she said as Kuu nodded and went to follow the officer.

"It will be fine," he told her, "You worry too much. I'm sure that if I see who this person is then I can get it settled and if it is a trespasser then I'm sure that the police station can deal with them. I'm not sure why they wouldn't have called, it seems the polite thing to do," he said before buttoning up the designer coat and following the man to where there were two officers holding a young and tall man on the ground. Kuu approached him from behind. Of course he had to have an athletic build to be able to jump the gate. What was he thinking?

"Excuse me," Kuu coughed to try to draw attention to himself, "Can you tell me what's going on?" he asked the officer as the man's body flinched. That was a reaction that made Kuu feel as if he really didn't know this man in front of him.

"Guy says he knows you," the security officer said, "Says he thinks he has a right to be here," he said and Kuu froze as he thought he recognized a familiar voice.

"I do know him," he said, "and yeah, jumping the gate was stupid," he said as Kuu blinked. It couldn't be, right? No, he was still in Japan pretending to be Tsuruga Ren. No, the president would have told him before anything happened. Kuu quickly came around to face the man on the ground. He saw him look up at him and Kuu felt a rush of emotions.

"Ku-on?" he asked completely shocked to see him.

"Do you know this individual?" the security officer asked and Kuu nodded though he was still confused on what was going on.

Kuu took some breaths before seeing the blond hair, the green eyes, surely it would be okay if he said it, right? He looked at the officers, "Could you please get off of my son?" he asked as they immediately did so. He looked at Kuon as he laughed weakly, smiling at seeing him though his eyes showed how confused he was.

"Hi, Dad," Kuon said weakly as he got to his feet with Kuu still staring at him. What was he doing here? Why wasn't he in Japan? What had happened?

After the officers had left Kuu looked at the man in front of him in shock, "What are you?" he asked and Kuon bowed his head.

"I'm retiring from acting," he said and that shocked Kuu even more as he stared at him as if Kuon had just told him he was a god. This didn't make any sense.

"Why? What are you – Did something happen with you and Kyoko?" he asked as he tried to figure it out.

"Should I not be here," Kuon said but Kuu wrapped his arms around his little boy.

"No, no, you are always welcome here. No matter what time of day or what day of the week or anything, you are always welcome to come back," he said before he saw that Kuon still didn't look right. There were so many differences between him and how he had appeared as Ren. "I'm sorry, I don't really know what's going on? Can you stay? Are you hungry? What's going on?" he asked as Kuon looked down.

"I went to the doctors," he said as Kuu looked at him and the color drained from his face, "I'm dying, they say I have an extremely rare terminal illness," he looked at Kuu who now was the whitest Kuon had ever remembered seeing him even when he was struggling with Rick's death. "I wanted to tell you and Mom in person," he said as Kuu nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry," the older man said as he felt as if his breath was being stolen from him, "I didn't hear you properly. Could you re-repeat that?" he asked with his voice shaking a little.

"I'm terminally ill but there's more, it's just a little cold out here," he said and Kuu stared at him as if the words weren't making sense. "I wanted to come home. Is that okay?"

"Of course it's okay," Kuu said as he tried hard not to break down due to that information, "I never…we never want you to feel scared about coming back here. You are always welcome here. Are you still with Kyo-"

"She's by the buzzer, I think she's still debating on whether to push it or not," Kuon said, "she didn't think that jumping the gate was appropriate."

"Okay, I'll go fetch her," Kuu said as he put a hand to Kuon's arm. "Do you still remember how to get to the east guestroom?" he asked as Kuon laughed weakly.

"It may have been over ten years but I still remember living here as a kid," he said and Kuu nodded.

"Go through the kitchen entrance then, we're having a party and that's going to be the easiest route to take. If you see anyone tell them that you're a guest and to check with me, I'll go get Kyoko," he said as he looked at his son. "Kuon, I'm…."

"You don't have to say anything," Kuon said before coughing which alerted Kuu even more. Kuon smiled at him before going to the kitchen as Kuu felt both his heart and his body shatter at receiving that news. His son was dying and he hadn't had time to spend with him as an adult.

…..

…..

Julie sat at the kitchen island with a cup of coffee in front of her. She didn't know what was going on but she had asked to have the kitchen for herself until Kuu returned. Something didn't feel right to her and she hoped her guests would understand her absence for ten minutes or so. She heard the door code to the kitchen and she felt a comfort inside. He had known that she was here.

She prepared herself to talk to her husband, hopefully this situation would be settled soon, hopefully it was nothing. She stood up before seeing a blond that she wasn't expecting and her jaw dropped. She saw the surprised way that he was looking at her and Julie felt tears flow down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Kuon said, "is it okay that I'm here?" he asked as Julie rushed towards him and threw her arms around him whilst crying into his chest.

"Welcome home," she said before she looked at him.

"Hi, Mom," he said which caused the tears to increase.

"Kuon," she sobbed as she held him not knowing what was going on. To Julie it didn't matter what was happening, it didn't matter how this was happening, all that mattered was that her baby boy was in her arms again and he had grown a lot taller. "Are you okay sweetheart?" she asked, "Why didn't you tel-"

"I'm dying, Mom," he said and Julie took a few steps back.

She blinked, "You're dieting?" she hoped. Maybe he hadn't said what she thought he had said. She didn't want to hear those words, "how many minutes?" she asked as he looked at her guiltily.

"Mom, I'm really sorry," he apologized as Julie felt her heart break and turn into dust as she stared at him horrified.

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Thank you for Reading**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter One**

Ashenvale: Neither can Julie 😉 Thank you.

Crazy4Animation:  Thank you, yes emotionally wracked and the next chapter continues with the Hizuris.

Kris XD: I hope you liked this chapter too

Mairposa: I think so too 😊

Paulagato: Kyoko still loves him no matter what, he's so important to her 😊


	3. Chapter 3 - Family Portrayed

**AN:** Hope you enjoy

 **Chapter Three – Family Portrayed**

After the party had finished, Kuu had made sure that the four of them could have some alone time and he had gone to the living room. He didn't know whether Kuon was particularly sleepy or hungry and part of him hated that he didn't know those things but the most important words were on the documents right now. How was his son dying and how long was his life expectancy?

"Are you sure you're okay, darling," Julie asked as she placed her hand carefully on his forehead. She smiled to Kyoko who was starting to fall asleep, "Kyoko, dear, it would be okay if you wanted to get some rest whilst we talk to Kuon. I know that you must be exhausted after following him all the way out here."

Kyoko looked between the two Hizuri parents and shook her head, "I'm fine. I want to make sure that I'm here for Kuon and that he's able to tell you the truth," she yawned before apologizing quickly. She looked down with her hands in her lap. "If I were to tell my mother about this then she would never accept it."

"Never accept what?" Kuu asked curiously as he looked between his two "children". "I mean, I can read all of this but it's not sinking in. Something is going to be growing at a high speed rate and that's something to do with an infection. It won't tell me if it's an organ, tissue or…"

"I have rapid development," Kuon told them and Kuu looked at him. "The process of aging,"

"You mean that you're going to get older faster?" Julie asked as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Wait, is that even real? I know that in the modelling field if you don't take proper care of your skin then you could face the appearance of rapid aging but you're saying that there's more to it?" Julie asked and Kuu looked through the papers again.

"I didn't want to think that that was what it was but all of the information that was filled in by the doctor makes sense with that idea," Kuu commented and then looked at Julie. "I…I think that you should see a doctor on a regular basis," he said as he turned to Kuon. "As for right now, are you feeling okay? Are you sure that you have everything that you need because I wouldn't mind making a trip out if you need something."

"I'm fine," Kuon said stiffly before bowing his head, "I mean, there is something I need but after being the world's wor-"

"What is it darling?" Julie cut him off as she brushed back his hair. She softly kissed his forehead. "Honey, please tell us. What is it that you need?"

"A place to stay for the night," he admitted and Kuu frowned, looking at his son sternly.

"Kuon, you are staying here for as long as you need to," he told him. "I won't hear any arguing about it. You and Kyoko are able to stay here for as long as you might need to and I think that Boss should be contacted. You're obviously not going to be able to return to your contracts because of health reasons. I'll see what he says about that."

Julie hummed as she looked her son over, not really understanding all of the finer points of what was going on. This didn't sound normal but she knew that there were young people who looked old and even people who seemed to stop aging so they would be in their forties and look like preteens. She didn't understand how this could suddenly happen to her son though.

"So, let me get this straight," she said as Kuon turned to her, "Right now your body is rapidly aging and so in five years you might be," she said and Kuon looked down and sighed.

"I might be dead," he told her honestly, "Or I might have the physical health of an octogenarian," he sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not sure how it speeds up or if it's all at once and then stops and goes slowly but it's scary. Nobody wants to age before they have to."

Julie looked at him, "Are you worried though about those physical characteristics because I know that your father and I would want to take care of you," Julie said and Kuon froze and stared at the floor. "I mean, whether it's your hearing or whether you have trouble in a dementia type of way or whether you need help with your incontinence."

"Mother, could you please not say such things in front of Kyoko?" Kuon asked before closing his eyes. He sighed before turning to his dad, "Could you give Kyoko a tour of the house, dad," he said and Kuu looked between them before nodding slowly.

"If that's what you want, is that okay with you, Kyoko?" he asked her kindly and Kyoko hesitated.

She wanted to stay with her fiancée who she now thought of as a flight risk but maybe he needed time with his mother as well. Maybe there were just certain ways that Julie could help him that she just couldn't. Kyoko sighed and then closed her eyes, her heart softly beating in her chest. She just wanted for him to be okay.

"Father," she said as she followed Kuu as he led her through the house, "Whatever you're thinking. I'm not going to leave him. I've considered all of my options and…"

"Kyoko, did I ever say that I thought you were going to leave him?" Kuu asked and Kyoko froze, her back straightening. He hadn't voiced those thoughts, she just wanted to stand up to someone and talk about how loved Kuon was. It wasn't her father that she needed to convince.

"No. It's just that I'm worried about him," Kyoko told him and Kuu sighed.

"Let me ask you a question then," he said as he brushed his fingers through his hair, "and please don't think that I want you to feel unwelcome here. I am happy that my son is back and I am truly happy that you have accompanied him but it does feel unnatural to me, there was a set plan and he's not in the right place psychologically. He just got told that he'd be rushed into old age but let me ask you," Kuu paused and turned to look Kyoko in the eyes, "how much planning went into coming here?"

"For me, none," Kyoko told him. "Father, you know that if I knew we were going to come here that I would have phoned ahead and made plans. I might have tried to do it without Kuon finding out about it but he left me. He left me with a note and I had to find him at the airport and knock some sense into him. He isn't coping with all of this very well."

"He tried to leave you with just a note and run away?" Kuu asked surprised and Kyoko nodded.

"Maybe he didn't think that that was what he was doing," she told him, "maybe he thought that he was trying to do what was best for me and protecting me but it's stupid. I want to be with him no matter what he looks like. I don't care if people think he's my dad or even my grandfather as long as I'm with him but I think that he's extremely worried about what might happen."

Kuu looked at her, "Do you want to be here, Kyoko?" he asked and Kyoko sighed.

"I want to be with Kuon. Where we are doesn't matter. If Kuon only has a limited time left then I'd like to be with him but if you're saying that I need to return to Japan and fill my commitments then I…I'm just happy that he's somewhere where people care about him. I know that you don't really have the best family ties, Father, and I really don't want to insult you but I just want him to be with people who love him."

"You sound as if you're already married," Kuu commented.

"Yeah," Kyoko sighed, "And I am so sorry Father if I sound disrespectful towards either you or Julie-san. Is it okay if he stays here?" she asked and Kuu looked at her.

"It's okay," he said with a smile, "He's our son. Of course it's okay. I mean, Julie and I have plans and we'd be willing to cancel them if he nee-"

"If you cancel your plans, Father," Kyoko said with a look of determination and honesty in her expression, "I know for a fact that he won't forgive himself so please allow me to use my strength to keep him safe. I might be young but I love him and that is a very important emotion for me when it comes to your son."

…

…

"Mom," Kuon said before sighing as he looked at her. Now that he could calm down a little bit, it was starting to become aware to him or where he was. He hadn't even really noticed that he was home yet, but he was in the place he had grown up as a child and he was seeing his mother again. He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair yet again.

"Kuon, whatever this illness is then your father and I will do anything that we can to help. You're our little boy…who is all grown up," she said before trying not to cry and Kuon looked down.

"I should have at least asked you two if it was okay before I came over," he told her. He looked at his hands and then turned to his mother, "You don't seem to look any older than when I was a child," he told her and Julie paused.

"Well, that's because I'm a beauty queen and a supermodel, my career would wane if I dared to show my proper age," she said before looking at him. "I've been keeping up with the Japanese news. I taught myself some more kanji too so that I could read all of the Japanese newspapers that I find….well not really the newspapers, the magazines on the celebrities in Japan."

"You mean Ren Tsuruga?" he asked and Julie nodded.

"He's my favorite, I've got three scrapbooks of clippings about him. I only show those to my husband though, nobody else. I want to see him improve even more," she said and Kuon dropped his head before exhaling deeply. Julie looked at him, "There's really no cure?" she asked, "I'm sure that maybe if there's more testing and…"

"If I looked like I was sixty," Kuon said as Julie watched him nervously, "How would you feel about me telling people that you're my daughter?" he saw her horrified expression but she looked down, shifting awkwardly.

"I'd rather you be honest with people about having a strange illness that accelerates your growth," she told him before pausing, "but you know, even if you said I was your daughter. You'd be there beside me for me to take care of."

"Mom, I don't really need you taking care of me anymore," Kuon sighed and Julie shook her head.

"You are Kuon Hizuri, the son of Kuu and Julie Hizuri. You will _always_ need me to take care of you," she said and although Kuon wanted to argue, he knew that expression was one that he'd have no chance against.

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Two**

Ashenvale, Guest, KrisXD, Paulagato


	4. Chapter 4 - A Teenager's Bedroom

**AN:** Thank you so much for continuing to read this fic. I hope that you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Four – A Teenager's Bedroom**

Kuu smiled as he put his phone down, he looked at the piece of paper where he had written down a time for a medical appointment for Kuon in the late afternoon. He thought that they might as well set up a doctor who could give a second opinion and then if Kuon decided to stay here then he'd have a physician that he could go to. Kuu put a hand flat against the counter as he started to break a little, his entire body shaking, he hadn't wanted this to be the reason for why Kuon would come back to them. He was supposed to be a world class actor.

"Are you going to be okay?" Julie asked nervously as she stood behind him. Kuu nodded, "Remember that you have to take care of yourself. Kuon would never forgive you if you let your career or your health weaken because he decided to come back here."

"Have you read about the savageness of this illness on his body?" Kuu asked and Julie stared at him as if he had said something completely crazy.

"Of course I've read it and I'm happy that he decided to come home. I'm so happy that this is somewhere that he feels safe even after all of these years and all of the tragic events that he went through. I'm happy that I get to be with my son but I don't want him to have to go through this. Still, he is my son and I will stand proudly by his side no matter how old he appears."

"Julie, that's not what I'm saying -" Kuu said before Julie approached him.

"I know who you are Kuu and I know why I married you. I know that you're going to be able to give him what he needs from his father and even if he looks one hundred years old, you will make sure that he is okay and taken care of. That's all we can really ask, for him to be as comfortable and healthy as possible. I think that I'll want to make a physical therapy appointment for him, just to get an assessment."

"Kuon doesn't need that," Kuu started to argue, "You know all about his physical strength and agility and -"

"it'll be a good place to start from for when he is struggling. We can see where he started and how to make things easier for him. I know that Kuon will start to feel guilt if I don't model or act but at least I can spend whatever spare time I have finding ways of him coping with this illness. It's not nice to hear that your child is sick, Kuu," Julie pouted.

"It most definitely is not nice to hear that your child is sick," Kuu nodded as he wrapped her up in his arms.

…..

…..

Kyoko snuggled into Kuon's chest as he held her. She was even more terrified than the Hizuri parents. She had always been so terrified of love but when it had come to him there was a reward when it came to the risk of love. Kuon had put her in danger of her heart breaking but he hadn't let it happen so far. Still, now she knew that there was a huge chance that she would have to live without Kuon.

She looked around, there were posters of classic movies in this room as well as pictures of cars and signed photographs. It was the room that one might think of Kuon having when he was fifteen but it was sweet as well. She hadn't imagined him to have had a large figure of the Millenium Falcon or any of the other scifi memorabilia. He had tried to tell her that they were there because they were movie classics but she wondered if he actually cared about these star shows.

What surprised her was that he didn't have any pictures of scantily clad women and Kuu had assured her that they hadn't changed anything in the room other than a change of sheets and upgrading the carpet. Julie hadn't wanted anything to change and so it had stayed a reminder of the child they were unable to hold in their arms.

It actually seemed that this Kuon was a little bit of a theater nerd or at least a movie buff. Kyoko had also noticed that there were some spots where he could have hid weapons and he had told her about that. She wouldn't have been surprised if Kuu had cleared all of those out of here.

"So, what do you think?" Kuon asked and Kyoko looked back at him.

"It's amazing that your parents kept this for you. I'm sure that my mother would have wanted to erase all memory of me if I left from her life. This just shows you how much they love you. They didn't want to lose any part of you," Kyoko said as she looked through the different items that Kuon had left behind in the room. She froze. "Your parents never wanted you to go."

"No," Kuon said slowly, "No they didn't."

"But they didn't come after you because they wanted what was best for you. That must have been so hard for them, they didn't even want to change your room into a guest room. However, I'm glad that they sent you away," Kyoko commented, "because I get to be with you now." Kyoko came over to sit next to Kuon, "Shall we go downstairs and see if they want to do anything for breakfast?" Kyoko asked and Kuon nodded shakily.

"Yes, sure, sure," he said with another smile before reaching for her hand, "I love you."

"I love you too," Kyoko said as she went to sit on the bed next to him, "and I know we can get through this together."

…

…

Kuon held to Kyoko's hand as they went to the downstairs area. The two of them had changed into comfortable clothing but Kyoko knew that she would have to go shopping for something new if they were to stay here. She was split on that decision. She knew that she wanted to be with Kuon and she wanted him to be safe and to try to get healthy but running away from contracts, her career, that was something that she wasn't used to and wasn't going to get used to.

"Good morning," Kuu said as he turned his body to the couple and looked at his son nervously. "How are you feeling today? Last night must have been a rush for you, have something to eat, okay?"

Kuon nodded before dropping into a deep bow as Kuu and Julie shared a confused look. "I'm so sorry that I interrupted your party last night. I'm sorry that I caused such a -"

"Please don't apologize, sweetheart," Julie said as she reached out to put her hand on his upper arm. She gazed at him concerned. "You are always welcome here, we'll never turn you away."

"Even if I want to stay a few months, start treatment here, see a doctor…" Kuon looked at the floor and Kyoko squeezed his hand. She thought that that would be best for him too even though it would mean that she'd have to be without him at least until she figured out her acting jobs. She looked at Julie whose eyes were shining with tears.

"You mean that I can take care of you?" she asked sounding very excited before looking at Kyoko and her excitement fell. She knew that Kyoko loved her son and wanted to be by his side as well. It was rude to just try to take over the responsibilities of the fiancée. She froze as her eyes widened.

"Let's see what the best health care is," Kuu said before looking at Julie, tilting his head to the side. He took her hand and gently ran his thumb over the back of it. "Jules?"

"You're still engaged, right?" Julie asked as her back straightened and Kuon nodded.

"Of course, we are," Kyoko took a step forward. "I love Kuon and that's a very important thing for me. Love doesn't come easy in this world and love can be very messy. You can think that someone loves you, think that you're special and important and then love can betray you and become a dark force. However, Kuon has always been the strength in my heart. Losing Kuon would mean more pain than going through this illness with him. Please don't ever ask whether I'm breaking up with him because I'm not," she said before bending down, wrapping her arms around her stomach as tears fell down her eyes.

"Kyoko, I'm so sorry," Julie said in shock.

Kuon wrapped her up in his arms. The stress of all of this was making itself known and he hated that Kyoko felt so tortured. He kissed her forehead a few times and held her in his arms. "It's okay," he whispered to her and Kyoko turned herself into his chest. Kuon let his fingers roam through her hair and he stared at his parents who still looked a bit guilty. He shook his head. This was more his fault, the idea of being left and of being broken up with, than anything that his parents did.

"I don't want you to apologize," Kyoko said honestly as she wiped the tears away from her eyes. "It's just that I don't know what to do. I didn't want this to happen."

"But we're still engaged, we're still going to plan a wedding, we're still going to be married," Kuon told them and Kyoko choked back some happy sobs. With his arms circled around her, Kyoko nodded as she started to smile.

"Maybe you can help us plan," Kyoko said as she turned to Julie who smiled with her excitement returning. Any mother would want to have involvement in planning her beloved child's wedding.

"So, can you recommend any doctors?" Kuon asked as he changed the subject, taking a deep breath in and then letting it out alongside a few coughs making it so that everyone had their attention tuned in on him.

"I actually have made an appointment for you," Kuu said and Kuon paused, "I hope that that's all right."

"Yeah, that's great," Kuon nodded as he attempted to sort out these plans in his head. "Thank you."

"So, can I help make breakfast?" Kyoko asked trying to calm herself down. She had never been under such stress before. She had had so many traumatic and troubling situations that she had had to get out of but the idea of the man that she loves dying in such a terrible way made everything so much more complicated. She shouldn't be thinking about it but she did wonder what day would be his last, which smile would be his last, what the last movie he saw would be, whether she would ever be able to act opposite him again.

Too many things. Too many far too complicated things.

"Well, breakfast is already prepared," Kuu said, "We hope that it's okay but if you want to help me make dinner whilst Kuon's at the appointment then I welcome the company." Kyoko nodded and Kuu led them to the dining room where there was an array of both hot food and pastries. Kyoko walked over to the table, looking around the room where it seemed to be a very exquisite high-profile area. The Hizuris were wealthy, this was a wealth Kyoko wasn't used to.

Hopefully wealth would be able to do more for Kuon dealing with this disease than it had in the other cases where they were much less wealthy. That's the way the world worked, wasn't it?

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you** Kris XD **for reviewing Chapter Three**

And of course he has the Hizuri parents' support 😉


	5. Chapter 5 - Twelve Times

**AN:** Personally, I love writing this story despite it not being that popular. Thank you if you are reading it and I hope you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Five – Twelve Times**

They were taking a long time in the examining room and though Kuu knew that he had special privileges, he felt that they were taking far _too_ long. From looking at the clock on the wall, Kuu could see that Kuon had been with the doctor for about an hour and a half. He ran his fingers through his hair again. A clean bill of health didn't take this long to determine, there had to be a problem.

"Kuu," the doctor said as Kuu looked up hopefully, "Could you join us in here?" he asked and Kuu paused before nodding silently. He came into the room to see that Kuon was fully dressed but staring at his hands as if something terrible had gone on.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he put a hand on Kuon's shoulder and the younger actor nodded with a sad smile.

"Would you please take a seat?" the doctor asked and Kuu pulled the chair closer to Kuon, tilting his head down to really examine his son. He put a hand on his shoulder and continued to stare at him. Something wasn't right. "Kuon has agreed that we share the information with you, so Kuon, do you want to go ahe—"

"I can't," the younger blond said as he bowed his head, he looked haunted by the information and that only increased Kuu's fears about what was happening. "I can't repeat it."

"Is it okay if I share it?" the doctor asked and Kuon nodded nervously as he closed his eyes and that made Kuu even more afraid.

"Kuon," he whispered as he put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you sure that you're….okay"

"Twelve times," Kuon whispered and Kuu was surprised to see that he had started to shake, trying his hardest with his acting not to break and Kuu couldn't help but move closer to him and wrap his arms around his son. It terrified him that as soon as there was human contact, Kuon clutched onto him desperately and broke down on his shoulder. This wasn't how he had ever expected to see his son but the words weren't making sense to him. Twelve times what?

"There have been cases about this illness but I've never seen any reports on it being to this high degree," the doctor said and Kuu looked between them, still unable not to hold his son especially when he was breaking like this. "Your son's body chemistry has increased to an unheard of rate. Twelve times that of a healthy individual."

Kuu paused, "so that means each month…" he started.

"Yes, each month in terms of biology, Kuon will physically age a full year. The life expectancy is less than five years because in five years he'll have aged a staggering sixty years." Kuu felt all color drain from his face. That meant that were he to survive a six year his body would be that of a ninety-eight-year-old despite him only being thirty-one.

"The treatment?" Kuu asked and the doctor sadly shook his head. "Are you sure, there has to be something, something still in development."

"There are some drugs that people have been working on but they are ten years away from being developed enough for even testing," the doctor explained and Kuu felt his stomach twist painfully. "And because of this rapid growth in the cell bodies, soon the effects will show and I can test Kuon at that time to see the extent of his disabilities."

"Disabilities?" Kuu asked, his eyes widening. "Kuon isn't disabled," he tried to argue.

"It's very rare for someone who is undergoing this type of illness to not become disabled in some way, even with cancer the effects of the cancer can be devastating but at least we have a system for that, a way of treating it. For this, there's nothing that can treat it but we can offer some painkillers to make the changes more manageable."

Kuon bowed his head, "Please don't tell her," he whispered to his father and Kuu couldn't stand the heartbreak that his own son was going through, the only silver lining of this was that they would be able to spend some time with Kuon though that time would definitely be more limited.

"I won't," he said as he felt for his other son. She deserved to know the truth but the truth was unsettling and Kuu only wanted to know it so that he could take care of his little boy. He placed a hand on his shoulder trying to let Kuon know that they'd get through this together but he didn't know how much he could comfort him.

…

…

"I understand," Kyoko said softly as she nodded along to what the president was saying. "I'll return with the forms," she told him before smiling sadly. "Have a good night," she ended the phone call and looked down sadly. She knew that running away was a bad move but she wanted to follow him regardless of what it meant about her job. She didn't want to lose him but now that things were settling down, Kyoko knew that she would have to finish up her current contracts and could see Kuon later.

She also knew that if she broke too many of her contracts that her position at LME would be put into jeopardy and if Kuon was unable to work then she would be the one who made the money for them. She didn't know how they would finish shooting without the lead actor in the work that Kuon was doing. Lory had said that it would be okay as long as there was medical documentation for him but that still wouldn't explain his absence to the rest of Japan.

She could only hope that Kuon would get better and that he would recover.

Kyoko took a deep breath in as she told herself not to cry. He had always been the person to dry her tears, to stop her from sobbing but she had to be strong for him and his family now. She didn't want him to feel guilty because of her own pain, he already was going through enough.

Kyoko nervously went into the living room where she saw Julie sitting in a chair reading a book.

Upon seeing Kyoko enter the room, Julie slipped a bookmark in to mark the place she was reading and put the novel down on a side table. Kyoko's eyes caught onto the fact that the characters were Russian. Kuon probably knew how to read Russian as well. "Kyoko, is everything okay?" Julie asked as she looked at her future daughter in law. "Anything that I can help you with?"

"I have to go back to Japan," Kyoko said as she dropped down into a bow and Julie sat up straighter unsure what caused the young woman to be so formal. "I have a favor to ask of you, Julie-san. A very important favor."

"I'll do my best," Julie replied and Kyoko kept her head bowed.

"I think it's best for Kuon to stay here but if he's here and I have to finish up my acting contracts then I won't be able to take care of him. Will you please take care of him in my place, you and Father?" she asked and Julie reached out to take her hand.

"Of course I will," she told her with confidence in her expression. "Of course, I'll take care of him until you're able to return to us. He's my little boy, I'm his mother, it's not something you should be asking for because it's not a favor. I want to take care of him as much as you do."

Kyoko smiled weakly, "Not all mothers might want to take care of dying children."

Julie sighed, "Kyoko, what happened between you and your mother must have been very unfortunate for you to think this way but trust me, I love my son and I've missed him so much. No matter what is required of me, I want to provide for him. I will do everything in my power to make sure that he is well cared for and that you will be able to reunite with him."

"Thank you," Kyoko said as she rose from the bow just in time to hear the door be unlocked and opened. She took a few steps towards where Kuu and Kuon were. Both of them looked as sorrowful as if they had just attended a funeral service. Kyoko's breath hitched in her throat as she saw them. Something had gone wrong.

"Kuon," Kyoko asked as she reached out for her wrist and then her heart broke as he ripped his arm away from her. He glanced at her as if she were an insect. Something was really really wrong here. "Are you o-"

"I want you to leave," Kuon said as Kuu looked at him with wide eyes and Julie stared at them confused. Why was her son acting like this? Was the doctor's appointment that terrible that he was acting this cruel to a girl he had asked to marry him.

"You want me to….leave?" Kyoko repeated in shock. She must not have heard that right. She could have imagined it coming from the old Ren Tsuruga when she barely knew him but she hadn't thought he would say that to her with his blond hair and emerald eyes. What had happened at the appointment? "I don't understand."

"Go back to where you belong, Mogami-san," he said and Kyoko paused her heart quivering in her chest and she stared at him, her mouth dropping open. She didn't understand what was happening. She should go away, go back to where she belonged?

"I love you," she said with a weak smile on her face, her eyes brimming with tears. "Kuon, please don't do this. Please don't think it'll be better if we break up, please?" she begged and saw him weaken for a moment but he looked away as if distracted by something. "It can't be that bad, please?" she begged as she started crying as well.

"I don't want you anymore, go back, be with Fuwa," he told her and Kyoko felt Kuu wrap his arms around her though from the expression he had on his face, he understood Kuon's reasons. He didn't agree with them but it didn't take much to understand why his son was doing this.

"No," Kyoko whispered as she broke out of her Father's arms, "Kuon. I don't care. Even if I only get one last day with you, even if you tell me you've got twenty-four hours to live then…then I want you. We can elope. Right now, we can elope and I'll be your wife and we won't have to plan a wedding. I mean, we can have a second wedding later on or something if you want but all I want is to be with you."

"You'd elope with me?" Kuon asked as he turned to her surprised, "Hasn't it always been your dream to have a big wedding?" he asked and Kyoko shook her head, trying to get the tears out of her eyes.

"My real dream was finding my prince and I found you," she told him and Kuon opened his mouth before nodding.

"Okay," he said as Kyoko got more hopeful, "But I have to tell you something first."

Kyoko grinned and stood up confidently, her fists at her sides. "Of course, what do you need to tell me?"

"My body chemistry is twelve times faster than normal so every month I'll physically be one year older," he said and Kyoko paused before smiling again.

"Is that all that you're worried about?" she asked, "I love you. I want to marry you today and then I'll just have to see you a lot and enjoy every moment that I get to spend with you," she stated and Kuon stared at her. She didn't have to be _that_ committed to him.

 **End of Chapter Five**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to** paulagato **for their review of Chapter Four**


	6. Chapter 6 - What Defines a Sickness?

**AN:** New twist in this chapter. Thank you for your patience on the update 😊

 **Chapter Six – What Defines a Sickness?**

Kuon sighed as he rolled over in the bed that he had used as a teenager. It was a little too short for him these days but he had certainly slept in worse. Besides, it had been good for his parents to allow him to stay here until things started to go back to some type of normal. Kuon pushed himself to the side of the bed and let his legs drop. He felt strange. It was as if he had stayed in bed too long and had slept on his muscle deadening them.

He sighed, pulling himself up, and immediately dropped onto the ground. Damn It. What was going on with him this morning? It had only been two days since Kyoko had left and he was finding it hard to get out of bed. He tried to get up but it was as if his legs were unwilling to move.

He finally managed to grab onto a bookcase for support and then felt his chest, breathing was painful right now. Maybe he should just spend some more time in bed. He sighed as he managed to pull himself towards the bed and sat down. He hung his head and then put a hand to his chest. He felt hungry. Why did he feel so hungry?

Kuon was staring into space as he tried to calm his breaths. That was one thing about being sick and not feeling very well, you really got disoriented and the world around you became more of a blur than anything real. He sighed and let his fingers go through his hair. It was longer than it had been before he went to sleep.

Was hair supposed to grow this fast?

He heard a knock on the door and nervously looked up. "Yeah, I'm up," he called out, his voice sounding a little raspy. He heard the door being opened and saw his mother there. Her eyes widened and she rushed to him. This was strange. She immediately crouched in front of him and placed her hand on his forehead.

"Darling, are you feeling okay?" she asked though she definitely didn't look as if _she_ were okay. She sat on the bed with him, his eyes narrowing. Kuon looked at her confused. "I thought that the aging pro-oh, that doesn't matter now," she whispered and Kuon looked at her nervously.

"The aging process?" he repeated and she took his hand squeezing it.

"Darling," she whispered as she kissed his forehead and rubbed his bag gently. "Have you looked in a mirror today?" she inquired and Kuon looked at her confused. "Darling, it's only a slight change, probably not more than a couple of years."

"A couple of years?" Kuon asked her confused, he coughed feeling as if he were about to pass out and shakily tried to stand up. What was she talking about? He was supposed to be aging one year for every month, not just suddenly get older overnight. This felt like a curse rather than an illness.

He felt himself about to crash onto the ground again but Julie caught him, using her determination to hold him up and help him back to the bed. He looked at her nervously.

"You get some sleep, darling," she whispered. "I'm going to get a damp cloth and then once you've had some rest and your fever has been brought down, we can sort to everything else," she put a hand on his chest as he struggled to close his eyes. Everything felt painful. "I love you, Kuon," she whispered before kissing his forehead and leaving the room.

Kuon sighed and picked up his phone. He turned it on and looked at the camera. It wasn't much but he did look two or three years older and he had a thick beard that he hadn't had the previous night. Was he really sick or was this more of a curse? He didn't want to get to sleep. Going to sleep meant that he might get even older without knowing it.

He felt like he was living in a horror movie.

…

…

Kyoko sat with her hands on her knees as she faced the president. One of the things that they were going to talk about was Kuon's illness but most importantly it was the fact that Kuon had lost his mind and had left without a word to any of the directors that he was working with. It was unacceptable for an actor to do that and Lory would have been furious about it had he not empathized with Kuon.

"This is a huge mess," Lory whispered, "I don't even know where to start with this one. Kuon has always been known for his outstanding work ethic, he's loved for that and besides everyone else knows him as Ren Tsuruga."

"I think that he didn't mean to cause problems," Kyoko said quietly and Lory nodded.

"I doubt he went into this thinking that he was going to cause these problems but he did, they _have_ happened and so we need to focus on how we can smooth things over. There might be a few fines to pay unless you have…" Lory stopped as he saw Kyoko hand him a folder of papers. "What are these?"

"A copy of his test results, plus a written note and a photocopy of his Japanese ID card and his American passport," Kyoko told him and Lory stared at her before nodding slowly. "He won't be able to act anyway, not with his condition. Soon it will take its effect on him."

"It's really that bad," Lory said with a painful look in his eyes.

Kyoko nodded. She gazed down. There were so many people who had love in their hearts for Kuon and to see how his illness would affect each of them really caused her to have a pain in her chest but he had to have those acting jobs filled by other people. He needed to concentrate on his health because who knew how long her fiancé really did have on this earth.

After the conversation, they had drawn up a plan of action, a plan that meant that Kyoko had to stay away from Kuon for a month more than she had intended just so everything could get straightened up. Kyoko did understand why Kuon didn't want to be in Japan but she wanted him with her. Who cared how old he looked, she loved him in a way that she had never experienced before being with him.

She took a deep breath in before reaching for her phone, she turned it on. Her eyes widened, Julie had phoned her. She had taken time to call her which might mean something had happened to her future-husband. Was it too late for her to return the call? She pushed her fingers through her hair and dialed, she'd apologize if it was.

She paused as she heard Julie answer, "Hi, you've reached Julie Hizuri," she said and Kyoko paused. International calls cost a lot. She was making a lot through acting and she knew that Kuon would be willing to pay it for her but she should have considered - No. Kuon's health came first. Kuon's health _had_ to come first.

"Julie-san," Kyoko squeaked, "You called me, is something?"

"He's already had a change," Julie said and Kyoko blinked, it had only been a couple of days, illnesses didn't work like this. "Kyoko, I'm really worried for him. I thought that this was supposed to be gradual but I don't know what's happened to my baby."

Kyoko froze before trying to control her breathing, "He's had a _change?_ " she asked and heard Julie's sob. Was it that bad? No. Even if Kuon looked like he was an eighty-year-old, she still loved him and wanted to marry him and to hell with anyone who might think differently about this.

"Only two or three years but he does look older," the Russian-American said sounding terrified for her little boy. "He's having difficulty getting out of bed, he's not…stable on his feet."

"He's doing okay though?" Kyoko said, her voice going a little faster now that she was scared and worried about the man she loves. "You'd say that he looks like he's in his early thirties, very late twenties, but other than that, he's okay?"

"Yes," Julie said softly, "I would definitely estimate about twenty-nine or thirty from the models that I've worked with but my son shouldn't _be_ thirty yet, he's just a twenty-six year old."

"I know, Julie-san," Kyoko whispered, "May I speak with him?"

Julie was silent and Kyoko's eyes widened a little. Was her future mother-in-law going to tell her that that was an impossible request. Was she going to tell her that she was being stubborn or selfish and she should consider his health and the risks on his health. Kyoko _was_ thinking about him but she knew that for his emotional and psychological health, the two of them needed to talk.

"He's sleeping right now, I want him to get his rest," Julie said sadly and Kyoko nodded.

"I agree," she replied softly, "Please tell him that I'd like him to video call with me whenever he's able to. Remind him that I don't care about his age. Tell him not to care about the time difference, I want to see him. I _need_ to see him, Julie-san."

"I'll make sure that he calls you," Julie told her and Kyoko let out her own sob of relief.

"Thank you," she whispered as she ended the call and let her body slump. He was changing already? Thirty? Thirty didn't matter, that was eight years older than her, lots of relationships had that type of an age gap. He would even be able to hold many of the same jobs…if his age change would stop there. Would he be at forty or fifty by the time she was able to be held in his arms? Would he be older than his dad?

As she walked to the window, Kyoko sighed and she closed her eyes. She spread her fingers over the glass wanting things to be better. She had just wanted the two of them to have a happy life but trouble always seemed to find them. She shivered before her ear pricked up at one word.

"Kuon Hizuri will be mine, you can't have him Takarada-chan," a girl said and Kyoko looked slowly in that direction. Maria was here?

"The doctors know the difference between an illness and a curse," Maria told her. "I'm not interested in him anyway. You have a sickness if you just like old guys," she argued and Kyoko tried to put the pieces together in her head. The difference between an illness and a curse? Did that mean that Kuon wasn't ill, that someone had caused this to happen to him? She quickly walked over to see a woman only a few years younger than her with Maria.

She had sadly stopped being as friendly as Maria when she had told her that she and Ren were engaged. Maria had told her that she was too flaky in relationships and that she had betrayed her by even to start dating Ren. Kyoko hadn't respected how much Maria loved Ren and how hard this relationship was on her. She should have been more gentle.

"Well, it's good that you don't care because my uncle is the one who's going to make sure my plan works," the twenty-year-old said and Maria rolled her eyes with a groan.

"I don't care about some stupid Hizuri Kuon guy, you take him. I'm only interested in Ren," she said and Kyoko looked at them. She took a step forward not realizing the bags under her tear-filled eyes.

"I'm sorry, you said something about Kuon?" she asked with a shaky voice, her eyes wide. "If you know something then please…please, if it's about Kuon," she dropped down into a bow. "Please tell me how I can help him."

Maria stared at her wide-eyed, "So….Ren isn't enough for you?" she asked and Kyoko shivered. She didn't know whether to betray her fiancé and explain that he _was_ Kuon Hizuri. That had been her secret she had promised to protect but would Maria help her save him if she knew the truth?

 **End of Chapter Six**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Five**

Melchormonica8, Paulagato


	7. Chapter 7 - Are You Really His Mother?

**AN:** Hope you enjoy, this one took a little bit of a sad step

 **Chapter Seven – Are You Really His Mother?**

Kyoko took a step forward. If this was about Kuon, then she needed to know. Was he not sick and just part of a curse? She was struggling in her mind over whether or not to tell Maria that he _was_ Kuon Hizuri. Kuon hadn't wanted anyone to know but he was growing older and perhaps if Maria knew she could help but then again he didn't want people to know. It was making Kyoko feel a rush of anxiety that she had been accustomed to in childhood.

Maria frowned as she saw Kyoko continue to stand there, "So, Ren isn't enough for you?" she repeated with tears in her eyes and Kyoko flinched again. She didn't know what she wanted to do but she wanted to help her fiancé. "Would you give up Ren to be with this Kuon guy?" Maria asked and Kyoko's mouth opened and then closed.

"N—no" she shook her head but Maria wasn't buying it. She could tell that Kyoko was lying and about something so simple as the love you have for your fiancé. She was going to destroy Ren's heart and Maria didn't want for _anyone_ to be capable of doing that.

"Then find the cure for the curse by yourself," she said and Kyoko looked down nervously.

"What if Ren were to ask you for help?" she asked and Maria paused, she looked at Kyoko in an even more disgusted fashion. "If…If umm, Kuon was Ren's friend and Ren asked for hel—"

"You're _sleeping_ with Ren's _friend_?" Maria asked and Kyoko's eyes widened. Logically she was but that wasn't the point of the conversation. It had been Ren's choice to be seen as two different people. Kyoko wanted to scream but she was too loyal to the oath that she had given him where she said that she would never give away his secret.

Kyoko took a step forward, her eyes wide. She didn't want to betray Kuon but if Maria knew something then maybe this would work. "Maria-chan," she said softly before showing a rare picture on her phone that she had of her and Kuon in password protected files. This had been one time when she had gone with him to the airport. "This is a picture of me and Kuon, please look at it?"

Maria shook her head despite Kyoko kneeling before her. It might take a moment to grasp that Kuon and Ren were the same person but Maria wasn't even looking at the screen. "I don't want to look," she said and Kyoko bowed her head.

"I'll leave you alone forever if you look," she said and saw Maria start to cry and shake her head. "Maria-chan, please, please I'll do anything if you just look at this photo. I promised not to say the words but you'll recognize him, I know you will."

"I don't care!" Maria screamed, "Kuon could drop dead and I wouldn't care," she said before running away with tears streaming down her face and that made Kyoko start crying. She wanted to help him. Maybe she could find some way to break the curse but Maria had more talents than her. She just wanted him to be okay and for him to tell her that he was okay.

….

…

Kuon was _not_ okay. Whatever okay meant or whatever it had used to mean, he wasn't okay. His entire body felt as if something was crushing it and he could smell the stink of vomit that he had thrown up and cleaned earlier. It was still there, the strange mix of puke and the cleaning products to clean it up and now he felt that he couldn't even get out of bed.

He was only supposed to be a few years older, his body wasn't supposed to go through these changes in this short an amount of time. However, he was finding that he was having trouble even getting out of the bed. It just hurt way too much. Even though he was strong and had battled through a lot more than most, the pain that he was enduring made everything seem weak in comparison. Okay, maybe not Rick's death but a lot of other things.

The pain was digging deeper and Kuon tried to close his eyes, roll over, and put his face in his pillow. He moaned deeply before hearing a nervous knock on the door. He paused and paled. Had his mother heard that? He hadn't meant to worry them. He was being selfish by just being here, they might have had location shoots or had to travel for a runway and he was just manipulating them. The knock came in again and Kuon took a slow breath.

"I'm fi-fine," he said before hearing the person leaving. Maybe he had managed to convince them. He closed his eyes trying to use medication techniques to go through the pain. It was as if someone was stuffing his body full of lead and then extracting it by using a hose. He heard pacing and then there was a knock on the door again. He was really being a lot of trouble to his parents. He shouldn't be here.

The knock was hesitant and then Kuon heard his father's voice, "I know that you said you're fine but…but I'm having trouble…I…just"

"Dad?" Kuon asked as he put his forehead into the pillow. His mother had been the one checking on him up to this point, he wasn't even sure if his dad was home. "I'm fine," he whispered again and heard his father exhale weakly.

"Are you sure?" he asked and Kuon felt his heart being ripped apart. His dad was just worried about him. He nervously looked up before sighing.

"You can come in!" he called out before turning his face to look into his pillow as he tried not to yell out in agony. Unsurprisingly, Kuu came right beside him and placed a hand on Kuon's back. His hand felt like ice and he heard Kuu gasp.

"You are _not_ fine," Kuu stated and Kuon hesitated. Okay, he wasn't fine but he hadn't wanted his father to worry. "We can leave for the hospital right now," he told him and Kuon shook his head. "Listen, the doctor took a look at you before, said there have been other reported cases. I'm sure that the doctor here can look at you again," he said and Kuon still shook his head stubbornly. "If this is about you being a burden on us then I'm going to get pissed," Kuu stated bluntly.

"This is an-" Kuon clutched the side of the bed with his hand, his nails digging into the mattress. "I can't," he shook his head and then felt Kuu gently smooth his hair. He flinched and Kuu looked at him, getting on his phone to text Julie who was also in the house.

"Kuon," he said in a firm manner, "It's okay that I'm touching your hair and your back. You're not exposed. You are my precious son, I'm allowed to take care of you. It's my right as a father, it's my priority," he said before seeing Julie come in with an ice pack. She looked at her son nervously. How could he be in such agony?

"Kuon?" she asked nervously before seeing him flop down on the bed, his hair getting a little longer as well as his body a little skinnier. She looked at Kuu. This definitely didn't seem like an illness, it looked like something out of a horror fantasy novel. She gently let her fingers go through Kuon's hair. "It's okay, darling. It's okay," she said softly and Kuu looked at her.

"It's not going to be fine," he mouthed and Julie looked at Kuon before frowning as her attention moved back to Kuu.

"No," she mouthed as well, "but I don't want for him to believe that."

…

…

Julie looked at Kuu as they sat together in the hospital waiting room. Thankfully Kuu and Kuon had already been to see a doctor about his condition so at least the doctor knew what he was supposed to be treating but she hadn't been told anything like this. This was more than accelerated growth, this was some kind of creepy magic, a phantom of some kind.

Julie nervously fiddled with her purse as they waited for any news. Since Kuon's case was so unusual and excruciating, more tests were having to be done so that they could give him something for the pain that wouldn't have an adverse reaction.

She sighed as she counted the number of pens in her purse and then opened up a small envelope. Inside were six pictures of their family before Kuon had become Ren. They were of the three of them at happy moments in their lives and Julie kept them in her purse so she could always be with him and be able to think of him fondly though she never did stop that longing to drop everything and go out and see her baby.

As a nurse passed, she went over to Julie. "You're Julie Hizuri, aren't you?" she heard the woman ask and Kuu smiled to her. Usually fans would come up to _him_ first and then acknowledge her second. They both usually made jokes when _she_ was the one they approached.

"Yes, you've se—"

"You must have been a teenager when you were pregnant," she said and Julie looked at her nervously.

"Were you treating our son?" Julie asked. She just wanted some news on how her baby was doing. Kuon was trying to fight and it could be seen by his facial expression, his body movement, how much in agony he was in. "Is it okay if we go see him? I just -"

"I can't believe that guy is your _son_?" the nurse said and Kuu hummed.

"It's extremely disrespectful for you to be talking about our son where other people can overhear," he said to her though now he was worried about what Kuon's condition was. They had become parents before most of their friends, it was in their early twenties that Julie had given birth to Kuon and Kuu had been in his mid-twenties. How bad did it look for Kuon now? He didn't want to think about that. Age and appearance didn't matter. He just wanted his little boy to be okay.

"I want to see him," Julie announced as she stood up. "I want to see my son," she turned back to Kuu, "our son, right now."

Kuu nodded as he stood too, putting his hands on her shoulders, "We will, as soon as they tell us that he's okay, we'll be able to make sure that he's okay. We'll see that he's all right."

"Well," the doctor said as he approached them, "It depends on what you mean by all right. Let's go to my office."

Kuu nodded and he and Julie followed the doctor to his office where he had them sit down. "He's stabilized but we'll have to keep him overnight for observation and he's not going to be able to walk by himself for a number of months so I'll get a wheelchair. Your son is showing an age of mid to late thirties," he said "Your son has some severe disabilities," he told her and Kuu's eyes widened.

Severe disabilities? He had been fine that previous night. How could one person go from being fine to disabilities and being ten years older. He took a shaky breath in hoping that the world wouldn't see Kuon as his kid brother or half-brother or anything. Kuon was his son and he was really scared at when the point would come that the world would stop seeing him as such.

 **End of Chapter Seven**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Six**

H-Nala, Kaname671

 **Thanks for the support**


	8. Chapter 8 - Spying and Discoveries

**AN: I've been attempting to update every 10** **th** **day of the month but got excited and updated early, hope you enjoy**

 **Chapter Eight – Spying and Discoveries**

Julie felt extremely hesitant that Kuon had asked her to accompany her to the runway. He had promised that he just wanted to sit in the crowd and see her work but he had only come out of the hospital recently and his body was going through changes that nobody had been expecting. This runway was also a last minute idea and though Julie had agreed to it, she had wanted for Kuon to stay at home with Kuu where he would be taken care of.

She should feel honored that her son was battling through the sickness that he was undergoing and that he had requested to see her work. When he was young she had brought him to many shows and as a preteen and teenager she had booked him some work as well. Though with the comments that she was hearing about her precious Kuon, they made her feel queasy.

"Kuu's brother is really hot," another model said innocently. She had attended some formal dinners with the Hizuris and Julie had considered her a friend but she didn't like people mistaking her son for someone else. She laughed weakly. "Is he single?"

"No, he's engaged," Julie smiled as she felt as if she was being wrapped up in foil on a hot day and it was burning against her body.

The model sighed as Julie fought the urge to talk about how that was her son and he was very sick and the reason that he looked the way that he did was because he had to endure things that she hadn't thought possible before it had happened to Kuon. She tried to concentrate more on the clothes. She wanted to buy some for Kuon, help him feel better and she was glad that Kuu had accompanied him. That meant that someone would be at his side if anything happened.

"You know, all the good guys are taken," she said and Julie laughed again under the pressure. "He's Kuu's younger brother by what…ten years…" she estimated and Julie nodded. She didn't want to play this pretend game with her son. Her son was supposed to be in his twenties and he looked like he was in his mid thirties and he was also stuck in a wheelchair. Julie felt terrible that all she could really do was nod.

"Do you think that Kuu will mind me asking him out for the day, not like a date or anything but you can always break off an engagement," she said and Julie glared at the ground.

"An engagement is sacred and precious to those involved," Julie stated as the model blinked, taken aback by how passionately Julie was speaking. She opened her mouth to argue but as she took a look back at the older model, she felt that Julie was more serious about this than she had been on a lot of other things. Kuu's brother must mean a lot to her. "Kuu is very _very_ protective of his…brother," she told her. "I don't want to do anything that would hurt either one of them."

"Big brothers are like that," the model sighed before tilting her head, "Any chance that I could persuade him to change his mind?" Julie shook her head, giving quite a clear no. "Well at least I get to admire him, maybe when he sees me on the runway he'll get curious about me."

"He's in love with someone very much so," Julie said before looking at her friend. She felt pained at having to do this but she was Kuon's _mother_ , that kind of bond was something she would do her best to protect. She adored her son and this woman might hurt him. "Listen, I don't want to be cruel, you've been a good friend to me but I won't forgive you if you hurt either one of them. Just please, if you care about me at all, stay away from them."

The model turned to her surprised, it took a lot for Julie to say that and she sighed. "I'll leave him alone," she agreed and Julie nodded gratefully. She was happy that people still found Kuon attractive even if he were older but there were still vultures out there wanting to feed on her little boy. She would do anything in her power to protect him.

…

…

Kyoko sat outside LME hoping that she could come up with a plan that would lead to Maria helping her restore Kuon back to normal. She had heard from Julie that he wasn't doing too well but he was making an attempt to enjoy what life he had left. That scared her. She wasn't a girl who wanted to only be married for a minute, she wanted a long and happy life with Kuon at her side. Still, if the choice that she had was Kuon or no Kuon, she would do anything to be with the man who made her feel both loved and safe.

"So," she heard an annoying voice as she sat outside the agency. She glared up. What was Shotaro doing in front of LME, he was in another agency and surely if he was found in enemy territory his value would decrease. Kyoko tried to avoid eye contact with him. "Where's your fiancé?"

"He's visiting his parents," Kyoko said bitterly and Sho raised an eyebrow.

"I can't believe how unprofessional that guy is," he said and Kyoko bit her lip so that she didn't argue against him and let slip how ill Kuon was and that was the reason why the two hadn't been seen together. Shotaro didn't need to know that, especially since he'd just use it as something to hold over Kuon's head. "He skipped out on work, so many broken contracts."

"He has his reasons," Kyoko said as she tried to avoid eye contact with her once childhood friend. "Reasons that I don't think you're smart enough to understand."

"You know," Sho said as he took out a file with loose documents in it and Kyoko tried not to get interested in what those documents could actually say about Kuon or anything else. "It's very interesting and exciting when you're as famous as I am, when you flirt with someone you can get anything that you want."

"Wow, so what kind of easy girls have you been manipulating into sleeping with you?" Kyoko asked dryly with a roll of her eyes and Sho leaned towards her.

"Oh, don't worry, this isn't about me," he gestured to the papers that he was holding. "No, not at all, this is about _that_ man."

Kyoko felt her heart beat pound painfully in her chest as if it was about to burst out of it like in that famous scene from Aliens. Kyoko didn't want to fear the worst. Maybe this was a photo of Kuon kicking a trashcan or something. Maybe he had jaywalked or maybe they were pictures of him when he did damage to his car. Even worse would be if they were documents that detailed things about Rick that the public couldn't have found out otherwise.

"You don't know anything about Ren," she argued and Sho raised an eyebrow.

"Well maybe I don't have new information about _Ren Tsuruga_ ," he said and Kyoko eyed him warily. He didn't know right? No, he couldn't know Kuon's true identity. She slowed her breathing and looked at him with eyes that carried disinterest in them. "Did you know that that man's name is actually Kuon Hizuri?" he asked and Kyoko crossed her arms.

"Prove it," she challenged him and he pulled out a piece of paper that he must have stolen from some secret file that was kept at LME. She would murder whoever had access to that file and felt the desire to redistribute this paperwork. That was a secret that she could have told Maria if she wasn't so afraid of the consequences.

"And I also know that he's got some kind of virus that will turn him into an old man." Sho laughed at her and Kyoko felt her skin crawl. How was he able to get this information. How the hell was _he_ to get this information unless he had been stalking them and then what was the point in doing so. "I mean, are you so desperate to be loved that you'd go to bed with an old man. There are better options even for you."

"All that you've shown me," Kyoko said as she tried not to show the anxiety that was building inside of her, "Is that you aren't afraid to be wasting your time with stupid documents and spying on other people. No wonder you don't have a steady girlfriend, you'd probably go around spying on her rather than enjoying your time together."

"Do you know that you're not disputing these things," Sho told her and Kyoko sighed, she raised an eyebrow.

"Would you believe me if I did deny it?" she asked before rolling her eyes. "It's people like you who are bringing down society, Sho. Why are you doing this anyway? Why did you invest so much time and money into doing this?" she waved her hand in the air and sighed loudly. He really had been wasting precious time in acting stupid.

"Pretend to be my girlfriend and you can have all of these documents," Sho blackmailed her and Kyoko kept a steady eye on him. By agreeing to this she was more or less saying that Sho had learned the truth but if it meant protecting Kuon then was it okay to admit this.

"How long?" she asked and Sho looked at her surprised, "How long would I have to pretend to be your girlfriend? You know, it's pathetic that you have to blackmail me to do this, can't you get a girl on your own."

"Not one like you," Sho said and Kyoko rolled her eyes. Hopefully Kuon would never find out about this and if he did then she hoped that he would forgive her.

…

…

Kyoko sat on the bed in the apartment that she and Kuon shared. She felt lonelier than ever. Not only had she not been able to talk to Maria and find a way to break the curse but now she was being blackmailed in order to protect the person who mattered the most to her. She felt lost and sick and wasn't sure which one she felt more of. She tried to sit patiently as she looked out the window.

It could be that neither Julie or Kuu would call her tonight and she didn't want to call them if they were at the hospital. All that she could do was hope for the best. As she looked out into the night, she heard her phone buzz and she quickly picked it up. As she read the name she blinked in surprise before smiling happily. She hadn't been expecting this.

On the screen was the name 'Ren Tsuruga'.

"Hello," she said nervously into the phone as she picked it up. She wanted to hear her voice and if one could see her it was obvious from how she was clutching the phone to her cheek. She took soft inhales and let out soft exhales.

"Hi, sorry it's taken me a while to call you," Kuon told her and Kyoko cried hearing his voice. "Are you okay?" he asked and Kyoko hummed.

"Yeah," she said quickly wondering if that hum had given him hesitation. "Yes, I'm okay. More importantly, are _you_ okay. How are you? I heard that you were in the hospital and…"

"Kyoko," Kuon told her and Kyoko stopped and sat quietly. "I don't want to disturb you so you can say no," he told her and Kyoko took another breath in. She wasn't sure what was going on but she didn't want to hurt Kuon. "Can we have a video call. I don't look like myself any longer but I thought that it would be nice to see one another."

"Of course," Kyoko said with a smile. No matter how Kuon looked now, he was still her future husband and she _would_ find a way to unbind him from this curse.

 **End of Chapter Eight**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Seven**

H-Nala, Kaname671

 **Author Response:**

Kyoko is going to break her word especially since Sho knows but she wants to be supportive of her fiancé. There will be more Maria next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9 - His Name is Kuon

**AN:** For some reason I feel a little lightheaded as I wrote this chapter so it's a bit shorter, it might also lack a little bit of depth for that reason. However, I really do hope that you enjoy it.

 **Chapter Nine – His Name is Kuon**

Kyoko took a deep breath in as she waited for the picture to come up from Kuon's side. She was scared for him and even more fearful now she knew that it was magic that had been performed against him than a health risk. Usually there was less chance of surviving a curse and maybe this was what the medical records had been showing. After such a long time of getting ones medical degree and then medical condition, you have more of a trust in science than fantasy.

Kyoko closed her eyes quickly before the picture came on and attempted to smile as she saw him although her eyes were filled with tears. She hated that she wasn't a good enough actress to be able to hide it from him. She felt herself tense. He looked like he was in his early forties, almost twice her age. He had aged so rapidly but curses sometimes took twelve hours to come to completion.

"Hi, Corn," Kyoko sobbed as she tried to maintain her composure. He was the one going through all of this and she was the one taking it for granted that he should look the same inside and out. She was a terribly useless girlfriend.

"That upsetting," he laughed weakly and Kyoko shook her head quickly.

"No. It's not upsetting me," she said quickly as she forced herself to smile in a positive manner, "It's not upsetting at all. No. I'm just glad that I can see you. You're not in the hospital are you?" she said as she tried to dab away the tears in her eyes.

"I'm not in the hospital," he replied looking a little distant. "If you want out, it's okay. You didn't sign up for this."

"I want to be with you," she said and Kuon bowed his head guiltily. It would be better for everyone to stop pretending. Kyoko didn't want to seem to be involved in this. He felt the difference from looking at her. The way she was looking at him now was a lot different than the way she had faced him in the past.

"No you don't," he chuckled and Kyoko's eyes widened even more. Was he ending their relationship? Was he really telling her that he didn't want to be with her anymore. She had to contact Kuu and have him help her find cheap plane tickets so that she could get on the next flight.

"Don't you dare say that," Kyoko said passionately. She closed her eyes and dropped her head allowing the tears to fall, if they were going to flow anyway then she shouldn't hold them back and she knew that Kuon could read her. It was as if she were in one of those student-teacher relationships but you could find happiness in them and he was Corn on the inside. She just needed to change the curse.

"I want to be with you, we'll find the cure for this and it'll all go back to normal. I'm going to complete as much work as I can and then come and see you in person at my earliest opportunity," she told him and tried to wrap an arm around herself. He was giving up because of something that some strange girl had done to him and she wanted to be with him. Finding the cure was important but not being able to physically prove how she loved him was causing pain to both of them.

"I'm going to send you a care package," she sniffed and Kuon looked to her confused.

"You just promise to keep fighting for me?" she asked, "I'll keep fighting for us."

Kyoko looked at him, she knew the age was obvious, he had changed a lot but he was still Kuon. Underneath all of the wear and tear on his body, he was Kuon and he should have the same advantages as everyone else. She just had to find Maria and tell her the secret. Maria could be trusted, right? She could be trusted when it came to Ren.

"I really do love you, Kuon," she said and he nodded, the words finally sinking in. "I can't stop loving you."

…

…..

Despite having to call out sick for one of the days she had to film the scene, Kyoko had learned that the important thing, the most important thing was to find Maria and get her to change the spell. Kuon needed to get back to being the way he was or at least for the spell to stop. He was now looking like he was Kuu's brother, it would be horrifying for him to be seen as Kuu's father.

Kyoko felt like a creep as she waited by the house where Maria lived. She had a feeling that the small girl wouldn't listen to her anyway but that was something else that needed to be done. Kyoko had to find a way for her voice to matter.

Maria could still ignore her and Kyoko was expecting for that to be the case but she would care a lot more about Ren. Girls never really gave up crushes like that even if the guy started dating somebody else. Kyoko stood as she saw the car reach the gate and Maria opened her window.

"I don't see what you-" she began but Kyoko cut her off.

"Ren's real name is Kuon," she told her and Maria laughed bitterly and looked away. "Ren is getting hurt. He's aging rapidly and his body doesn't know how to handle it. I know that you hate me for stealing him away from you but he's getting hurt and as his girlfriend, I have to keep that from happening."

Maria tried to roll her eyes and forget the whole thing but as she closed her eyes she remembered all of the happiness and comfort that Ren had given her. She had always had a feeling that he would fall for somebody else but he had always treated her as a princess. He would always treat her in a way where he tried to make her happy, that's what she loved about him.

Before the car pulled into the driveway, Maria had opened the door and jumped out. Kyoko blinked in surprise and smiled. This should mean that something good was happening, right? It meant that Maria was willing to help her even if it was only for Kuon's benefit.

"So, Ren is getting hurt?" Maria asked as she looked at Kyoko who nodded with the tears still in her eyes. Maria sighed and turned to the side. "I really wanted to hate you."

"I know you do," Kyoko told her before closing her eyes. "I know how important Ren is to you which is why I need your help. I love Kuon but he isn't here anymore, he's with his parents because he's hurting. This curse is attacking him and he need someone to support him. I was hoping that with your magic you would be able to help me locate a spell or some anti-curse."

"Because you're some weak willed woman who only cares about a man, you promised that you'd never come to be that way," Maria told her and Kyoko laughed. Yes, in her youth she _had_ been that way, she had protested against love and virtue and Kuon had been the one to change everything and give her new appreciation for that sort of thing.

"Yes," Kyoko nodded, "I would do anything to help him. I'm sure that you'd want to do anything that you can to help Ren, too, right?" she asked and Maria nodded though she did blush a little. "So, can we say that, for this shared goal, you can help me? We can work together?"

Maria nodded but then frowned at Kyoko, "Just as long as you understand that I'm not doing it for you," she told her and Kyoko nodded, "We're doing it for him."

…..

…..

Even though the fashion show had gone well and the other model _hadn't_ ended up hitting on Kuon, Julie could still sense the sadness that her son was going through alongside the pain. She and Kuu had tried to come up with ideas on how to help him feel better but it didn't seem to ever lead to a good result. She needed to speak with him because she had seen it from him before. Falling too deep into the sadness and pain might lead for him to hurt himself.

She went over to where he was sitting in the living room watching a bird, she sat down on the chair next to him. "I remember when you were a kid," she said and he turned to her with a weak smile. " Daddy would lift you high onto his shoulders and you too would watch the birds. You'd try to name them as well," she laughed softly and Kuon smiled.

"I don't think that I could do that now," he said and Julie reached out to touch his upper arm, she squeezed gently, trying to prove to her son that the people around him would never stop loving him. He was going through so much in the way of physical chances that Julie knew his emotional and psychological changes much be devastating as well.

"There's a lot that you can do, Kuon," Julie tried to remind him. "And we're not going to give up looking for a cure. Kyoko is not going to give up on looking for a cure. We love you and together we can save you, I have to believe that."

"It's wrong," Kuon stated and Julie frowned. She stood up and came over to him, putting both of her hands on his cheeks and directing his view towards her. She sighed before trying to refocus. She had to tell him this and he better listen to her.

"Kuon, the change that we're all looking for, it has to begin with you," she said stubbornly and Kuon looked to her. This was a woman who had told her husband on numerous occasions that she was going to die, couldn't he say the same thing. "If you keep thinking of the negatives before they even happen then they stand more of a chance of happening. Take charge of what makes you happy. You may look older but you're still getting compliments and we're not giving up on you so don't you dare tell me that you're giving up on yourself."

"Would you care?" Kuon asked her and Julie stopped in horror, he shook his head, "No. I'm sorry, Mom. I know, I know you and Dad would care," he said and Julie continued to stare at him in alarm. "I'm just thinking, I tried to end things with Kyoko."

"Why would you do that?" Julie asked and Kuon shook his head.

"I don't know," he lied.

He definitely did know the answer and that was that he couldn't burden her any longer but he knew his mother's answer was that the way that he was "burdening" her was all in his head. She would argue that Kyoko didn't feel that way and as far as Julie knew she wasn't expecting to feel that way. Still, this curse wasn't only happening to him and if being with somebody else made Kyoko happier then he'd understand, even if that meant her getting together with Fuwa.

 **End of Chapter Nine**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Eight**

H-Nala, Kaname671, melchormonica8, paulagato


	10. Chapter 10 - Age Is Just a Number

**AN:** I know the ending could have been better done and there might have been room for one more chapter but I didn't feel like extending it any further. I do hope you have enjoyed reading this though.

 **Chapter Ten – Age is Only a Number**

Kyoko looked through another book as she tried to find a cure for the curse that Kuon had upon him. Apparently if the user lost control of the black magic then the other person would age so much they would turn to dust and for Kyoko _that_ was a horrible disaster. She didn't want to think of the way that she could lose Kuon and that she would be alone. She loved him even if he wasn't able to see that herself.

"Kyoko!" Maria squealed as she managed to find something in her own book and Kyoko looked across and then smiled. The page that Maria had open was in Latin but at the top of the book there was some English writing there. Although she hadn't studied enough to be skilled in _Latin_ , Kyoko was incredibly skilled in English.

Charms to Break Aging Spells

Maria looked over the Latin and Kyoko realized that she had taught herself to read it. She shouldn't be surprised, Maria was a lot more like a small adult in a child's body than a little girl and that had been because of her father. Having the distance between them meant that Maria had to take care of herself. It was something that was hard to ask any child to do.

Maria sighed as she put her finger to the page that had the charms on it. "This one," she said before looking down sadly, she shook her head. "No. This one stops the aging and it'll pause aging until the body energy is able to catch up to the person inside but that means that Kuon will be…he won't be your age."

Kyoko paused. She looked down thinking about Kuon. She had seen him grow older and she knew in her heart that she would continue to love him no matter what. However, she knew that he would have trouble in the acting world if he just appeared so much older. He looked like he was in his early forties but she loved him regardless to that.

"Can we make it?" she asked and Maria nodded as she looked at the ingredients. She had most of the rare ingredients in store and there was always the possibility of finding a spell to reverse his age.

"It might be his only hope, we have to work quickly," Maria said and Kyoko nodded. It was good to have her friend's help again despite the pain of knowing this might be the last project they work together on.

…..

…

Kuon felt everything inside of him crashing down and breaking. The pain was nearly unbearable and he could see the pain that his parents had for him. He felt that he was going to die and that the spell was going to work quickly and destroy him. His eyes were almost closing when he saw an out of breath Kyoko standing there.

"Hi," Kyoko whispered as she studied him, her cheeks turning a deep red as she studied the body of the man that she loves. He was in his forties or at least appeared to be but in her eyes, he looked like Corn. She walked over to him with the small charm bottle.

"We found an antidote…in a way," she told him and Kuon pushed himself up.

"You did?" he asked and Kyoko nodded. She walked over to him and then sat down on the bed next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and let her head rest on his shoulder. "It's not going to cause reverse aging but it is going to pause it until you're actually forty," she told him and Kuon watched her.

"You don't want to marry me like this," he said and Kyoko took his hand.

"I love you," she said, "Whatever age you look. All I want is to spend the rest of my life with you," she said and unscrewed the top of the antidote. She handed it to him and then saw him drink it. Soon everything started feeling better inside of Kuon but he sat there looking twice her age.

In Kyoko's eyes though, she didn't see anything any differently. He was the man that she had fallen in love with, the boy that she had never stopped loving since she was a little girl. No matter how different their ages were, they were meant to be together. She kissed him, "To me, you are always Corn and you are always the man that I love."

She kissed him before feeling a magical glowing feeling inside and felt his body to change.

She opened her eyes and smiled.

 **End of Those Good Old Days**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Nine**

Brennakai, Kaname671, Paulagato


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